


could it be your eyes?

by beingxwest



Category: Grand Hotel (US TV)
Genre: AU that changes the ending of episode 1.06, AU where they actually talk to one another, Alicia does not know what she's doing but she's trying, Alicia makes questionable decisions, Angst with a Happy Ending, Danny and Alicia, Everyone Thinks They're Together, F/M, He is the Best Friend, Idiots in Love, Jason Parker is a saint, Jason is a Good Friend, Love Confessions, Mrs. P really wants them to get together, Mrs. P sees all, My favorite ship, Not Oliver friendly, Some Humor, The Author Regrets Nothing, This Is Not Going To Go The Way You Think, and then some good ones, five minutes makes a big difference, life at the Riveria Grand is never dull, the power of five minutes, this is not an Oliver-friendly fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-29
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-09-26 19:00:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20394577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beingxwest/pseuds/beingxwest
Summary: The night of the gala goes very differently. Danny gets to the terrace about five minutes earlier. It changes the rest of his and Alicia’s lives. For the better. Title from “At My Weakest” by James Arthur. (1.06 AU) (Not an Oliver-friendly fic.)





	could it be your eyes?

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you like this! Let me know what you think!

Danny really wants to be pissed at Jason.

In the few weeks that Danny has been in Miami, he's learned a lot about himself, and as much as he hates it, the place is starting to feel like home. Or, at least, the people are - the other hotel employees who wave to him every morning when he clocks in; the grandmotherly woman who manages the concierge and is constantly straightening name tags and blazers and ties; Jason's supportiveness and sense of humor, and the way he doesn't hesitate to call Danny on his bullshit; Alicia's laugh and her unstoppable drive, the careful calm and diligence in the way that she does everything, the way his heart speeds up whenever she's around - and part of Danny knows that he might actually like it here.

If this wasn't where his sister vanished, if at least half of these people weren't suspects... Danny would be looking at this very differently. He knows that much.

He feels more at home in Miami than he ever has in his whole life. More than he ever did with Heather.

He meant what he told Alicia - he does really like her (although, according to Jason, it's more than that), but his life is complicated right now. He's looking for his sister. Trying to make sense of her disappearance. And he's also got a life he's supposed to go back to when that's done. The complicated part, Danny is beginning to think, is that he can't imagine leaving Miami.

Leaving whatever memory or ghost of his sister is here. Leaving Jason. Leaving the friends he's found in the staff breakroom. Leaving Alicia.

Maybe it's the _leaving Alicia_ part that messes with him the most. He really doesn't want to think about it. _See_, he tries to affirm to himself, _very, very complicated._

And when it comes down to it, that's why Danny wants to be angry with Jason - he knows Danny too well, he knows that Danny is bullshitting his way through life. He's got an uncanny ability to call people on their bluff, and he knows better than anyone else in Miami exactly what's going on in Danny's head.

At this point, though, it's probably pretty clear. Danny can feel himself just standing there, staring at Alicia and the guy she's sitting with. He's got the accent and the too-white teeth, and he's making Alicia laugh. He's ordering drinks for them and smiling at her and the whole thing is making Danny's insides churn. He can feel that his mouth is hanging open and the tray in his hands is dangerously close to tipping over. He probably looks like a complete idiot.

_Someone is going to see you staring at her, _he realizes, though, and this is what allows him to shake himself out of it. His eyes dart around the room like a kid with their hand caught in the cookie jar. Like even his body is worried about someone seeing the way he looks at her.

"You've been staring."

Not bothering to look up from the table he's clearing, Danny ignores Jason. This is more than a little childish, but there's no use in trying to convince Jason that he's wrong.

They've had bits and pieces of this discussion before, but Danny's always shut it down. Jason isn't letting up this time. He seems to have made up his mind about where ignoring his feelings is getting Danny, because even as Danny opens his mouth to argue, Jason continues, "You're in love with her. Half the hotel knows."

Danny shakes his head. Jason is right. Danny's gotten uncomfortably comfortable with those two words - Jason is usually right. If Danny didn't have half a mind to storm off to avoid the subject, he'd ask Jason how he does it.

The answer would probably be the way that Jason grew up. In a hotel owned by one of the richest families in the state, maybe even in this part of the country. Under the watchful eyes of Mrs. P. Practically right along with the two Mendoza kids. It's no surprise that Jason is so observant and has such a good head on his shoulders. That's probably the only way to get by growing up in a place like this.

_In a place like _what_?_ a voice in the back of Danny's mind hisses.

Danny wants the answer to be this: a place like the one where his sister went missing, where his only family might be dead or otherwise gone entirely, and so many people in the hotel might have had something to do with it that it doesn't make sense. But the only images he can come up with when he tries to think of everything wrong with this place, aside from the worst guests the place has to offer and all the screaming children running around during the day, are those of Alicia.

Alicia on that first day, in her business suit and ready to take on the world.

Alicia suiting up and helping in the laundry room. Alicia looking beautiful under the harsh lighting of the gym-sized laundry section of the staff workspace in a way that absolutely no one should be capable of pulling off. Alicia's hand on his cheek. Her lips against his.

Alicia that day on the lawn. She'd been setting up the concert and supervising the event planning, and the size of the whole thing had gotten to her a little bit, but her eyes had brightened so much when he gestured around them and said, "You did all of this, Alicia. None of this would be here without you." He'd swung her off the stage, and even through her blazer, his hands burned where they'd been holding her.

This is the kind of place where he's fallen in love with a girl he doesn't deserve. No matter how hard he tries, he can't seem to hate it - every staircase, every spot in the lobby, the restaurant, the ballroom... It's all Alicia. She's everywhere.

Jason's words echo in Danny's mind for the briefest of seconds._ You're in love with her. Half the hotel knows._ When Danny snaps out of his thoughts, Jason is still standing there, holding the silver serving tray in his right hand, and glaring at Danny with his eyebrows raised.

"How does half the hotel know?" Danny doesn't even want to consider whether or not his voice sounds strangled. It would be a stupid question anyway.

Though one would think it impossible, Jason's eyebrows climb further towards his hairline. The word _exasperation_ is practically written across his forehead. "Um, it's pretty obvious?" He's gesturing with the serving tray now, and it's moving back and forth as he talks. Danny doesn't bother wondering if the tray's contents will spill onto the floor; Jason is an expert at this. He probably practices in the mirror or something. "You look at her the way that Javi looks at Ingrid."

Danny can imagine how hard that is for Jason to say out loud. It wouldn't be fun to say that about Alicia and Posh Accent Guy, and they're just on a date. Ingrid and Javi look well on their way to being in love, and they're having a kid together.

Deep down, Danny appreciates the effort. He really does. Even if he does kind of still want to be really pissed at Jason for being right about everything. And knowing what Danny needs to do before Danny does.

Jason lowers his voice and leans a little closer. "Look, I'm not going to pry into your business. Your life, your choices..." He waves his free hand dismissively. He gives Danny a winning grin, then, to lighten the blow of what he says next. "All yours to make a mess of."

"I sense a 'but' coming."

"Yeah," Jason nods, shrugs his shoulders. "Here it is: they're yours to screw up, _but_" - he nods again, but this time, it's like he's doing his best impression of a bobble-head, and raises his eyebrows even further up, and the combination certainly delivers the extra emphasis Jason must be going for - "you always seem stressed when you think about Heather. When you talk to her. Or about her. And her life isn't yours to mess with like that. So you should at least consider who you're not doing right by in this situation."

Danny can feel himself being led. Jason can't make the choice for him, after all, but Danny senses that Jason's doing everything in his power to encourage him to make the right decision.

Breaking things off with Heather is something Danny has been putting off since before he left. Things were fine, but they'd just been fine, not fun or enjoyable and barely even friendly. They lost their spark a long time ago. Danny knows that. And, while Danny knows that him leaving like that was a pretty douche-y move, part of him thinks that if they really loved one another, it wouldn't have been like this.

He knows he's only short-changing himself the harder he fights the truth. He's holding her back, too, which makes him feel like a Total and Complete Asshole. Things have been really rocky between them, yeah. But Heather still deserves better than that.

Danny's next break is in twenty minutes. Heather should still be up, thanks to the wonders of time zones, and Danny can go hide out in one of the staff rooms and video call her and end their on-again-off-again relationship for good.

For him. Not because he's met Alicia and he's so in love with her that half the hotel knows, but because both him and Heather deserve better. Not because Jason thinks it's a good idea, but because Danny knows it's the right thing to do.

Danny is very lucky to have a friend who will call him on his bullshit, though. There's no arguing that. And leading Heather on like this for the past few months... Absolute bullshit.

"Yeah, okay." Danny sighs. "If you say so."

Jason just laughs. "I do say so indeed."

At the bar, Alicia and Posh Accent Guy clink their glasses together. Something twists over in Danny's stomach, and he suddenly knows that Jason is right about everything else - he can either be absolutely miserable and in love with her and alone (romantically, at least) until he can get his shit together or tell her how he feels before he loses his chance. Danny does not want to get stuck with the first option.

The second option isn't exactly appealing, but it's better than feeling like his insides are being ripped out whenever he sees her, isn't it?

Beside him, Jason is giving him a look that says he knows exactly what's going on in Danny's mind. "Let's get these tables cleaned up before break," is all he says, though, and Danny is grateful that Jason has decided to leave him be.

He's going to bite the bullet and deal with his problems. He's going to need to come up with the right words for it -- he needs to get this right. A glance down at his watch tells him that he's only got about fifteen minutes to figure it out.

* * *

Oliver finds her at the bar.

He sneaks up on her - that's one perk of not wearing stilettoes, Alicia thinks. It's up there with being able to walk comfortably and not having to sit down every few minutes because it feels like one's feet are going to fall off.

Oliver sits down next to her. This should not be a big deal. It's an open bar, and it's a free country. He's a grown adult, and he can sit wherever he wants, right? He orders one of the strongest drinks on the menu. The bartender doesn't bat an eye, just steps away to grab the right bottle, and then she's kind-of-alone-with-Oliver but also kind-of-_not_-alone-with-Oliver.

Alicia doesn't know what she wants. She's used to having her mind made up - she knows what looks best as far as decorations go, she knows how to make the hotel guests happy, she knows exactly what her limits are and that they aren't ever up for debate. But this time... She doesn't know what she wants.

Does she want Oliver to get the hell away from her? Does she want him to buy her another round and apologize for being such an ass?

Alicia doesn't know. And that's not something she likes, not something she's used to, but he isn't Danny, and he likes her, and he'll buy her another round if she lets him. This is the kind of uncharted territory that she hates primarily because it's uncharted; she doesn't know what she wants and she doesn't know what to do about that, and it's exhilarating in a way that's more nauseating than anything else.

This explanation leaves out a few of the facts, though, so here they are:

1) Alicia knows exactly what she wants. (Danny.)

2) What Alicia wants is no longer an option for her, and she's going to be respectful of that. (Danny ended whatever was between them a few days ago, and she is going to do the right thing and stay away from him, because that is what he wants.)

3) Alicia is technically on a date (maybe?) right now. They got into an argument earlier, yes, but maybe they're still on a date? Oliver came to find her, so that's a good sign, right? (Does Alicia want to be on this date? Does she want to tell him to screw off and leave her alone? Does she want to forego both options and go hide upstairs? She doesn't know.)

4) Alicia is definitely leading Oliver on. (See above: she doesn't know if she wants to be on this date. That's more than a little unfair to him. But, on the flip side, she _wants_ to want to be on this date. She _wants_ to want to be with a cute guy with a nice accent who can keep up with her in conversation. Oliver isn't perfect, but he's here, and he likes her, and that's more than she can say for some of the other guys she's dated. Her mother would hate that she's doing this to herself, and she knows it's wrong, but Oliver is cute. And here. And she's going to need another drink if she can't let this whole thing go.)

5) She's _not_ trying to make Danny jealous. That would be petty and the very definition of a cheap shot, and she refuses to stoop to that level. Her mother would disapprove beyond all belief. (Javi keeps catching her eye across the lobby, and the look on his face says he knows everything she won't admit to herself - there is a part of her that hopes Danny notices, that knows he has, that knows it's dumb and petty but that he's missing out and part of her wants him to know it. Javi is her brother - he knows her better than she knows herself, sometimes, and if anyone can call her on her bullshit, it's him. He knows what she's playing at.)

(Alicia knows what she's playing at, too - Javi keeps catching her eye because, while Alicia has been looking around to check on her brother from time to time, she's also been scanning the crowd for Danny like a lovesick teenager. Javi knows that. Alicia knows that. She's making a fool of herself.)

6) There's plenty of reasons her and Oliver should not be on a date right now. They include the following: they work for competing hotel franchises and that's not good, she's sort-of-kind-of-possibly in love with Danny and that's probably not good, and she vividly remembers Oliver being a player while they were in school.

Alicia shakes her head. The list of all the reasons this night could still be a total bust just keeps getting longer. They've raised so much money for her mom's foundation, and she's thrilled, but her dad and Flynn are still at each other's throats, and she knows she'll have to deal with that eventually. Her and Oliver won't come close to lasting, but she can have fun for the night, right? Or, at least, she can try to, maybe.

Oliver's apology is no less than what she'd expected. It's cheesy and charming, but half the girls in this room would claw her eyes out if she told him to shove it.

Alicia turns to face him and gives him a smile. She should have fun. She deserves it. It's not like she's married to the guy.

Now _that's_ something her mother would say.

* * *

Danny is oddly calm.

This isn't the hardest thing he's ever had to do. He'd expected it would be difficult, and that's why he's been putting it off for so long. But as he takes out his phone and sets up the call, his hands don't even shake.

There's a sense of finality, sure, and usually that makes Danny nervous. It still does, a little, but he knows this is the right thing to do. If not for him, then for her, because calling his girlfriend feels more like a chore or an unfortunate responsibility than it should. And she deserves better than that.

He holds the phone a few inches, maybe a foot or so, away from his face. There's a chirping sound as the call connects, and then Heather is there.

She looks like she always has. Her hair, red and parted a little off-center, frames her face. The lighting is a little dark in the room - probably her living room, given the familiar wall she's sitting in front of - but he recognizes the woman he's always known. There's history between the two of them, but not nearly enough to hold them together.

Danny lifts his free hand in a tiny wave. "Hey."

"Hey." She gives him a small smile. "I know it got kind of ugly last time, but... I was hoping it was you." Another upturn of the sides of her mouth. She exhales through her nose in the way that she does when she's nervous.

In the back of his head, Danny knows that "kind of ugly" doesn't begin to describe the way they've been treating one another - being insensitive towards one another's needs, letting themselves grow further and further apart when they have a choice in the matter. This isn't new or random. It's something they've done to themselves.

It's time to move on. For both of them.

Danny doesn't bother asking himself how he can know so much about her, know her mannerisms right down to the details, and it still can feel like he's talking to a stranger.

He can see himself in the little box in the bottom corner of the screen. His reflection looks like hell.

He bites the bullet anyway. There's no sense in trying to pretend. The thought actually makes him nauseous, and that's how he knows he's doing the right thing. "We need to talk. Um..." He trails off, then, not knowing what to say or how to say it.

He doesn't want to break her heart. Both of his options have the potential to do just that.

"Is something wrong?" Heather interrupts his stuttering with all the grace of a truck. There's worry in her eyes, concern in the purse of her lips.

He hates that this is going to hurt her. But not doing it will hurt them both more in the long-run, and he just doesn't see the use in that.

_Just get it over with_, a voice says in the back of his head. It sounds suspiciously like Jason.

His reflection is shaking his head at the bottom of the screen. There are bags under his eyes and there's a wrinkle on the right side of his vest.

"I'm - I'm sorry, Heather," he starts. He has to suck in a breath before he can find the words to keep going, and he forces himself to keep his eyes on hers. For a few long, borderline painful seconds, he opens and closes his mouth like a fish, unsure of how to phrase what he wants to say. When he finally gets something out, he wants to smack himself for the way it sounds. His voice is thick. There might be a single tear rolling down the side of his face. He doesn't bother thinking about it long enough to figure it out. "But I don't think this is working anymore."

Heather nods. Her face doesn't crumple like he'd expected. There are no tears on her face, though he thinks her eyes might be welling up. She doesn't look surprised at all.

"I know." She swallows hard. Drags the back of her free hand over both of her eyes, first the right and then the left. "I know, Danny."

Danny doesn't know what to say at first. It's not at all the reaction he'd expected from her, and it's only another indication that they don't really know each other anymore.

She gives him a sad smile, probably seeing the confusion on his face for what it is. "We're both different people than we were a few years ago. We're just not the same. If our relationship can't grow with us, that means we can't grow with each other."

Rather than asking about her newfound wisdom - this is really not at all the kind of place he'd thought she was in the last time they talked -, Danny nods. "Yeah. I - " He stops, runs his free hand through his hair. "Yeah. I know."

"I'm sorry it had to be like this," Heather says. She's laughing a little, even though her eyes are now shining with unshed tears. "I knew it wouldn't work out. "

She doesn't mean it in a bad way. She's always been a little blunt, and that's the truth. Danny's known since he met her that they weren't going to last. It was just a matter of _how long_ and _when_ and _why_ they would end things.

When Danny doesn't reply, Heather keeps going. "If you're ever in town again, look me up. We could at least be friends?" It comes out as a question, but the sad smile on her face tells Danny that even she knows they can't be.

"I will." It's an empty promise. Danny hears it in his voice.

Heather does too. A tear drips down her face.

"Just be careful, okay?" Danny almost doesn't register the change in subject until she continues, "I don't know what's going on down there, but I know you tend to throw yourself in over your head when it comes to the people you love, especially your sister." She cracks a smile here. It's a real one, the kind that used to dazzle him. It doesn't have the same effect anymore. "Don't do anything too stupid."

Nodding, Danny tilts the corners of his own mouth up. A glance at himself in the little box at the bottom of the screen tells him it's more of a grimace than anything else. "You look after yourself, alright?"

"I will," Heather says, and it sounds like she means it. "You try and do that, too, okay?"

Danny means it, too. "I will."

One of them hangs up. Danny's not sure which one of them it is, but suddenly, the screen is dark and showing him how long they talked. Heather's profile picture - one he took of her, actually, standing on the beach in Virginia - is near the top, above the small red letters telling him that the call has been ended.

He turns the screen off and sticks the phone back in his pocket. He feels... lighter, somehow, like a weight has been taken off of him.

_Better_. He feels _better_.

Things have been rough for him here in Miami. For sure. He hasn't known who to trust besides Jason for the longest time, and lying to himself about things with Heather wasn't helping at all. He couldn't trust himself with that. But now he can - he's done the right thing.

Sky would be proud of him. The feeling rushes up in him, and he knows it's true as soon as it does - his big sister would be proud of him for doing the right thing. She would be proud of him for making the right choice.

_She would be proud of me_, he tells himself. _I know she would be_.

And she would - Sky was always waxing poetic about falling in love and finding The One and happily-ever-afters that Danny has never allowed himself to believe in. That's how he's always known things with Heather wouldn't work out. It's why he's never allowed himself to feel that for someone before.

Danny did the right thing. Heather will recover, and so will he, and they'll both find something better.

He might have already found something better, if he only gets his ass in gear long enough to do what he needs to.

* * *

When Oliver suggests that they get out of the lobby, Alicia is hesitant to go with him. But he's going to kiss her, she already knows it, and this place is filled with enough reporters and people with cell phones that it could be a problem.

So Alicia lets Oliver take her hand and lead her towards the terrace.

The guy she wants to be with isn't even in the ballroom. He's probably on his break or running an errand for one of the other staff managers. Alicia shouldn't care where he's at or what he's doing or why, and she knows that, but the part of her that doesn't care about that seems to be winning.

_It's not like it matters,_ Alicia reminds herself. _It just won't work out anyway. It's good that he ended it, because you wouldn't have. You weren't going to. _

The stubborn voice in the back of her mind pauses at that - it's the truth. It wouldn't have worked out between them. If they were anyone else, maybe. But they work at the same hotel, and she's technically his boss, and he said himself that he's got a lot going on. Alicia doesn't know what that means, but she heavily suspects that he needs time to deal with it.

The voice whispers something like _give him time_, and _maybe when the two of you are older_, and Alicia wishes she could slam a mental door on it just to get the images that produces out of her head.

She's done her fair share of daydreaming in her life. But she does not need to have the image of her and Danny walking along a beach together or waking up next to one another or -

_Stop it, would you?_ She finally scolds herself. _You're on a date with _another _guy. Get yourself together. _

The break in her previous train of thought allows her to take a deep breath and shove anything related to Danny out of her head. Oliver hasn't noticed, because he's walking in front of her through the crowd, and he hasn't looked back at her.

Normally, she would think of what her mother used to say about that - that that just wasn't a good sign, not because of either person, but because of the way being in love with someone is supposed to feel - but this time she's glad. If Oliver had looked back at her over his shoulder, there's no telling what he would have thought. Alicia can imagine the way her face is twisted up or the way her eyes must've glazed over, lost in thought as she was a second ago.

Oliver would have asked her what she was thinking about, she knows. That's the kind of guy Oliver is. Even if he's not going to fall in love with her, and she's not going to fall in love with him, she knows what he would do in that situation.

Danny would've looked back at her. He has before. If Danny had been the one to ask her to step out onto the terrace with him, Alicia's stomach wouldn't have twisted up the way it did when Oliver asked instead.

_You are _not _supposed to be thinking about him. _

In front of Alicia, Oliver is pushing the door to the terrace open. The muscles in her shoulders have tensed up. Suddenly, she knows that she's going to have to stop him if he tries to kiss her, because this just isn't right. She can be polite about it and they can enjoy their evening, but she can't let this go any further. It just wouldn't be fair to Oliver.

She needs to get over Danny before she throws herself at another guy.

But that's just it, isn't it? Alicia has never felt like this before. She's used to being the one that's done with a relationship a whole five minutes in, and she's never not known what to do like this. She doesn't like it.

Alicia is used to being the one to end things, the one to be frustrated when she knows that the other person still has feelings for her, and as hard as that can be for her, Alicia learned a long time ago how to deal with it.

If Javi could see her, he'd roll his eyes. Drag her away from Oliver, because this isn't good for her, and her brother is the only person that's ever bothered to save her from herself (and the borderline-ridiculous need she has to make other people happy) before. But her brother is somewhere else, off with Ingrid, probably, and she'll have to talk to him later.

_You could do it your damn self, Alicia. What does Javi always say? If you aren't happy in a situation, you shouldn't be in it in the first place, right? You don't need someone else to tell you that. _

Alicia wants to bang her head against the wall. The voice in the back of her head - that one, at least, that wants to tell Oliver to buzz off - has a point.

Oliver steps out onto the terrace. She follows suit and steps up to the railing, standing beside him and looking out over the water. A sense of calm drops over her - this terrace, this hotel, this beach is home to her, and her brother and father are not that far away, and she's home. It's okay.

She looks over at Oliver and that sense of calm evaporates.

She doesn't want to be on this date. She wants to want to, but no matter how much she tells herself that she likes him, she doesn't, and her head is spinning from the force of the problem she's created for herself. Leading Oliver on was not the goal. Going out with a guy when she's still so clearly got feelings for Danny wasn't the point, either, because Alicia knew that a rebound wasn't going to fix this.

All Alicia can think about is the look on Danny's face when he'd asked about Oliver. And, of course, how she keeps managing to screw this up for herself.

Oliver is looking over at her then, and she gives him the politest tight-lipped smile she can manage.

And then the door behind them opens. Alicia and Oliver both whirl around to find -

_Danny_.

* * *

The gala is still in full swing when Danny returns to the lobby.

It's to be expected - this is one of the biggest events of the year in Miami, and it's probably the biggest thing the Riviera Grand puts on the calendar every year.

There are hundreds of people milling about, drinking and dancing and laughing, lifting their voices to talk over one another and the music. Danny forces himself to stand up straight and wipe his face blank. It's the same on-a-mission look that everyone working tonight has on their face. Danny knows that no one will question it. The staff are practically invisible in the hotel unless they're actually talking to someone. Usually he hates it. 

Tonight it's almost working in his favor. 

He nearly runs into four, maybe five people when he gets into the lobby. Barely preventing one fall as he tries to avoid knocking anyone over, he manages to nearly careen into another group of people a few feet to the right. When he regains his balance, he looks around to make sure that no one has noticed, and luckily for him, his hotel staff uniform is as good as camouflage in this place - no one has even spared him a glance, and the gala guests he was dangerously close to colliding with are unaware of the whole thing.

Danny brushes it off and rights himself, straightening his vest and cutting a path through the crowd.

A wave of panic slams into him when he catches sight of the bar. Not twenty minutes ago, Alicia had been sitting there with Posh Accent Guy. Where could they have gone?

Jason's words echo in his mind then. _When you wait too long, choices get made for you_.

No. Danny has let the universe make a lot of decisions for him in his life - he's stood still so many times, letting people he loves walk away and losing them because he couldn't imagine making a change on his own. He's lost so much because he was too young or too apathetic to do anything or he just didn't know what to do.

He lost Sky because of that. Not just when she came to Miami. Before then, before all of this.

Danny refuses to lose whatever might be between him and Alicia because he's incapable of moving his ass and dealing with what's in front of him.

His eyes dart from one side of the room to the other without his conscious decision to do so. His stomach churns. Forcing his expression to stay neutral is much more difficult than it has any right to be, but Danny's never been so good at hiding how he feels.

Alicia isn't in the lobby. The image of Alicia and Posh Accent Guy leaning towards one another, raising their glasses in a toast and smiling at each other, pops into Danny's mind. He shoves it away and ignores the pang in his chest. When he sweeps his gaze across the lobby once again, Danny's eyes land on Mrs. Parker. He makes a beeline for where she's standing at one of the side tables.

Once he's close enough to start a conversation, Danny clears his throat to get her attention. "Excuse me, Mrs. P.?"

The universe might be looking out for Danny, because Mrs. Parker is alone, and seems to be in a good mood. There's a champagne flute and a small plate laden with finger food from the snack table sitting in front of her.

"Mm-hmm?" She pops a bite of whatever she's eating into her mouth, flicking her fingers and reaching for a napkin. Her face is neutral, but her eyes are knowing.

What she knows, exactly, is beyond Danny, but he has a strange feeling that it's something he himself doesn't have a clue about.

He gets right to the point. Mrs. P doesn't like to beat around the bush. "Have you seen Alicia?" It might be the lighting, but the look in her eyes changes instantly. Danny doesn't know how to describe it or what it might mean, so he forges ahead. "I need to talk to her."

Mrs. P reaches for her champagne glass. "Oh, I think she's" - her other arm moves to point a finger over her shoulder - "out on the terrace."

Danny nods. Mutters a thank you. Spins on his heel and half throws himself in the direction of the terrace. He tries to make his rushing away look more like a speed-walk, but it probably doesn't work. He can feel Mrs. Parker's eyes on him until he clears another throng of people.

* * *

All that's between where Danny stopped to talk to Mrs. P and the terrace is the crowd, more small side tables, and one side of the circular bar in the center of the room.

He works his way through the people. The few weeks he's been working at the Riveria Grand have paid off - dodging the other staff members and the well-dressed guests is much easier now than it was when he first got the job. He doesn't come close to knocking anyone over this time. Rounding the bar, he makes an effort to slow down - even if he's careful not to bump into anyone, he doesn't want to take his chances on causing a scene like that.

He doesn't have that kind of time. _When you wait too long, choices get made for you_.

Danny reaches the double doors to the terrace in record time. He can hear the joke that Jason would make in his head - _If only you put this kind of hurry into everything you do, man, you'd be golden_, Jason would laugh. _My mom would promote you in a heartbeat._ \- as he slips through the edge of the crowd.

The hotel's logo is in the center of both doors. There's a second where it reminds Danny of what's standing between him and Alicia, what he's here for and what she wants and who they both are, and then, like some higher power really is looking out for him, the thought is plucked from his mind.

_Get over yourself,_ Sky's voice whispers in the back of his mind. He can see the way she used to reach for him, put one hand on each of his shoulders, give him a gentle shake like it was the preferred alternative to knocking some sense into him. _Jason's right, baby brother, you're in love with her. Do something about it. _Danny remembers Sky's favorite all-knowing smile. The wink that went with it. _It's time to put up or shut up, Danny-o. _

It's like he's been shoved forward.

A few steps closer to the door and Danny can see Alicia and Posh Accent Guy. It's dark out, apart from the lanterns in the center of the tables. Between that and the light from the lobby behind Danny, he can just make out where the two of them are leaning against the railing on the far side of the terrace. Based on the way they're facing, their heads turned just slightly to the left, Danny can guess that they're looking towards the bright, glittering lights of downtown Miami.

Around the two of them are a few of the outdoor tables, which have been pulled apart and redecorated for the evening's festivities - more standing room, in case anyone wants to look out over the water. The staff's been told not to worry about working out there; anyone who wants a drink to take outside can get it from the bar first. It's the perfect place to be alone. 

Danny's stomach half-lurches. They're probably out there because they want to be. 

He can't hear them talking. It might be because they aren't, it might be because the glass doors in front of him are thicker than normal doors are supposed to be, or it might be that the universe thinks eavesdropping is rude. Danny would agree - he doesn't want to listen to whatever they might be talking about, but he doesn't want to barge in and ruin their moment if Alicia is actually happy.

Jason told him to go for it. If Sky were here, she'd tell him to go for it. The universe seems to be telling him to go for it.

But if Alicia is happy... He doesn't want to do that to her. She deserves to be happy. And she was right earlier, when she said that he doesn't get to ask her what the deal is between her and Posh Accent Guy - Danny made the choice to break things off between them. Alicia has every right to move on.

If she's happy, he'll deal with it. He did this to himself. But is she happy? Is she sick of Posh Accent Guy already? (Danny knows that he is.) Or is she happy with the guy? Or, at least, happy enough for the evening alone?

Danny doesn't know how to evaluate that. He could probably stand in front of the door all night, looking like a creep, and still have no idea where Posh Accent Guy stands with Alicia. A beat passes, and then Posh Accent Guy turns his head just enough to look at Alicia, and Danny reaches forward and swings the door open before he stops to think about what he's doing.

_When you wait too long, choices get made for you_.

And then Danny is standing in the doorway between the lobby and the terrace. Between what he's supposed to be doing and what he wants.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Danny shakes himself out of it and sputters out, "I, um - Alicia, if you have a minute, I need to, uh - " He cuts himself off, looking between Alicia and Posh Accent Guy.

_What if they were having a good time and I interrupted them? What if I screw this up for Alicia because I'm being selfish? I'm the one who broke things off. Should I really be - _

"Danny," Alicia says slowly. There are only a few feet between him and where she's standing. She's cocked her head to the side, and she's blinking at him like she doesn't know what to make of his appearance in the doorway. "Danny," she repeats, still speaking slowly, shaking her head a little bit, "what are you -?"

"Can't it wait, whatever you need?" Posh Accent Guy cuts into whatever Alicia was trying to say without giving it much thought. It might be a trick of the light, but it looks like he's standing up straighter. He's taken a step forward, and Danny really doesn't want to assume that he's trying to put himself between Alicia and Danny. "We're in the middle of something at the moment."

If it were anyone else, Danny would probably jump in immediately - he'd go for the jackass who decided to act like that and tell him to stick a sock in it. Danny can think of plenty of times that he had to do that with some of the asshole guys that Sky brought home, and he doesn't mind doing it when some jackass needs to be told off.

Regardless, Danny's eyebrows just fly into his hairline. He is officially beyond giving a shit about whether or not his facial expressions betray his thoughts.

Giving Posh Accent Guy a Look is just about the only thing that Danny gets to do in this situation. This is Alicia. And if there's one thing that Danny knows about her, it's that she likes dealing with shit on her own. That means that her date is hers to read the Riot Act to unless she says otherwise.

The brief pause that follows is filled with mounting tension. Danny can feel it like he's standing in a pool being filled with water - like it's slowly but steadily creeping higher, lapping against his skin all the while. Alicia doesn't wheel around on her date, no - she slowly turns, stepping as she goes instead of whirling on him, careful not to catch her dress or the edges of the terrace's tiles with one of her stilettoes.

"Oliver, I think you've outstayed your welcome." Alicia's tone leaves no room for debate, even though she doesn't raise her voice. When Posh Accent Guy does a double take, Alicia takes a deep breath and elaborates. It looks like she's trying hard not to roll her eyes. "Your job is important to you, and my job is important to me. If someone here says they need me for a minute" - the glance that Alicia throws Danny's way tells Danny everything he needs to know; Alicia knows this isn't about work, and she also knows that Posh Accent Guy doesn't get to talk over her like that - "regardless of whether it's about the guests or the bar or the decorations outside or, like, the _moon_ _itself_, it is my responsibility to be there."

Posh Accent Guy - _Oliver_, a voice in the back of Danny's mind hisses,_ that's his name, isn't it?_ \- drags a hand across his face. "I didn't say that it wasn't your responsibility, Alicia. What are you talking about?"

To Alicia's credit, she does not take off her stiletto and throw it at him, which is exactly what Sky (and, to be honest, Danny himself) would have done in this situation. It's no surprise that Alicia remains completely calm; Danny just finds it that much more impressive. "You were very upset because of something my father did earlier, which I had no control over, and you got upset with _me_ about it." She stops, throws a knife-sharp look in the direction of the lobby, and when she continues, the sharp edge has been transferred to her tone. "Because it's your _job_, right?"

Posh Accent Guy raises his index finger to shoulder height. "I apologized for that." He sighs. Shakes his head. Opens his mouth to say something, thinks better of it, shuts his mouth, and then opens it again. "I thought we'd moved past that already."

The fact that Danny knows what the problem is and he didn't even hear the conversation says a lot about Posh Accent Guy. Danny chooses to keep this particular opinion to himself until he and Alicia are alone.

"We did move past that," Alicia replies. She's still standing up straight, still staring Posh Accent Guy down. Danny doesn't know if he's ever been so in love with someone. He didn't even think it was possible until just now. But Alicia isn't done. "We did move past that, and then you tried to talk over me. You said that we were in the middle of something."

Like he's suddenly remembered that Danny's standing there, Posh Accent Guy looks over at him like he magically appeared out of nowhere. Or like he's grown another head. "We're having a discussion, mate, don't you think you could leave?"

See, Danny would never step on Alicia's toes - Posh Accent Guy, jackass that he is, is her problem, and Danny would never get between her and something that needs to be dealt with. He knows better. But Danny has a rule: never leave someone alone with the jackass they're dealing with. Posh Accent Guy seems way too, well, _posh_ to be a physical problem, so he's probably just a douchebag, but Danny doesn't want to put Alicia in that position.

As he speaks, Danny keeps his voice neutral, his expression blank. "I'll leave if Alicia wants me to."

"I'll have you know that I - "

"You know what," Alicia interrupts. Posh Accent Guy looks down at her, blinking hard and obviously taken aback - maybe he isn't used to being given his own medicine. "I think I do want you to leave, Danny."

Danny raises his brows at her when she stops talking, expecting there to be more to that, but even he isn't prepared for the venom in the glare she throws Posh Accent Guy. Before the asshole can speak (and probably make things worse for himself), Alicia turns back to Danny and takes a step towards him. "And I'll be going with you."

The look on Posh Accent Guy's face is one of the funniest things Danny's ever seen. He's clearly never been told off like that. "But - but we're talking, Alicia - this is important - "

Alicia doesn't bother turning to look at him this time. Her eyes stay on Danny's as she speaks. "If you don't understand why I don't want to talk to you right now, Oliver, then I'm _not_ going to explain it to you."

The only sound for the next few seconds is that of Alicia's heels on the terrace's tiling. She walks toward Danny with a grace that's borderline regal. Posh Accent Guy lifts his hand but doesn't reach for her; Danny keeps the guy in his periphery but doesn't take his eyes off Alicia.

"You said you needed to talk to me?" Alicia says once she's closer to Danny than Posh Accent Guy. There's no question about whether or not the asshole heard her - even though it was more of a whisper, they're not all that far apart on this part of the terrace, and Posh Accent Guy's mouth is opening and closing in a distinctly fish-like manner - but Alicia doesn't seem to care.

She winks at Danny. Danny's heart stops for an entire second. The world might stop spinning, too, but Danny's too busy looking at Alicia to be sure.

Alicia arches an eyebrow. "Danny?"

Danny pulls it together. He curses himself for looking like such an idiot. He finally manages a nod, and then says, "Yeah, I did, if you have a minute." He only sounds half as strangled as he'd thought he would, so he considers it a victory.

"It sounds like the rest of my evening just cleared up, actually."

Behind Alicia, Posh Accent Guy makes a choking sound, and then starts going on about something else.

Unbothered by Posh Accent Guy's newest tirade, Alicia steps around Danny and shakes her head at the crowded lobby, and without even pausing, reaches down to fiddle with the strap of one of her shoes. There's a quiet _pop_ as she undoes it. She steps out of it and then goes for the other one, and when she steps out of that one, she scoops them both off the ground before turning back to Danny.

Too low for Posh Accent Guy to hear, Alicia whispers, "Can we get out of here?"

Danny only manages a nod. And a smile.

They set off for the edge of the terrace together, the part where the railing drops off and there's a path to the beach. Alicia is a sight to see - her heels in one hand and her dress bunched up in the other so that it doesn't get dirty, the ends of the dress blowing around her knees in the breeze, her eyes glittering in the moonlight, her hair falling in rings around her face, she's the most beautiful woman Danny's ever seen.

* * *

It was not right of Alicia to do that, and she is perfectly aware of it.

She knows exactly what Javi would say. _It's good that we know he's an asshole now. He never should have treated you like that_, Javi would start, but then it would be this: _But you also should have been up front with him, like, before that, and then not used Danny to get yourself out of that one. Like, I mean, that just wasn't the play, sis. _

They get halfway to where the waves are lapping on the beach before Alicia cracks.

"Listen, Danny, I, um..." She shakes her head like she's trying to shake off the way this whole thing makes her feel. "I didn't mean to drag you into the middle of that." She swallows hard, her feet stop moving without her meaning for them to, and she turns to face Danny, who's stopped beside her. She stares at the beach over his shoulder so that she doesn't have to look him in the eyes. In front of her, her fingers find each other, and she starts unconsciously wringing her hands, even around the heels that she's got in her right hand. "It was unprofessional and inappropriate."

Danny stays completely still long enough that Alicia flicks her eyes to his face. She can see him, thanks to the lit-up beach decorations and the moon above them, and she's not sure what to make of his expression. His brows are knitted together and his eyes are narrowed. He's opened his mouth, as if to say something, but he's been quiet since they left the terrace.

Another beat goes by. Finally, Danny slowly reaches for her hands with both of his. He pulls the heels from her hand and gently sets them on the ground below, and then slides his fingers through hers.

"That guy was an asshole."

Alicia blinks at him. She pauses - normally, the impulse to defend someone she cares about goes from zero to sixty before she can stop it, but several seconds go by, and nothing comes except for a rush of relief. Once she realizes that it's because she agrees, she lets herself nod, and she jerks to clamp a hand over the lower half of her face when her laugh comes out as a snort. Danny's still holding both of her hands, though, and instead of ripping one of her hands away from his, she just stands there like a deer caught in the headlights. Her eyes are wide. Her cheeks burn with embarrassment.

This is where Alicia would normally want to run away screaming, but Danny is laughing - not _at_ her, not like that, but like... She doesn't quite know how to describe it. His eyes are warm and there's a smile on his face. His laughter is infectious, and Alicia can't help the giggle that bubbles out of her. She isn't used to being open with people like this; she's never really let herself have this with anyone but her parents or Javi, and it's... nice. In a way that she's always surprised by.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Alicia finally manages. She's still laughing. Her eyes are watering. She can always fix her makeup before they head back inside, because there's no way in hell she's letting go of Danny's hands before she has to.

In response to the question, Danny's eyebrows nearly fly into his hairline. He collects himself immediately, and his expression twists into something else. It takes a minute for Alicia to come up with the right word for it: puzzled.

"What do you mean, what does that have to do with anything?" Danny asks. He goes slowly, like he's not quite sure what's going on inside her head.

"Well, even though Oliver _is_ a douchebag, it wasn't right of me to drag you into all of that." She pauses to shake her head and then turns her gaze on the water. It's easier to talk - she's known this beach, this ocean, this place, her whole life. It's the one thing that's never changed. "You said that you wanted to keep things professional, and I totally screwed that up."

Danny blows out a long breath. He squeezes her hands lightly, and Alicia fixes her gaze on him once again. He's shaking his head, lips pressed together in a thin line. The look in his eyes is not at all what Alicia is expecting.

She doesn't know what to make of it.

This time, it's Danny who looks away. He's looking behind her, maybe towards the docks a few miles away, which are just visible in the daylight, and next to impossible to see in the dark. It does occur to Alicia that he shouldn't be able to see the docks at this time of night, but maybe he's just looking at the beach or the waves over her shoulder.

Under his breath, Danny mutters, "I really screwed this up, didn't I? Okay, um, how about - " He shakes his head, hard, once, and then meets Alicia's eyes once again. "It's not... like that."

Alicia isn't exactly used to being able to read people very well, but she's usually better at it than this. _I guess that's fair, though_, she thinks to herself. _It's always been like this with Danny._ She's never quite been able to wrap her head around everything he is without getting lost along the way. Just him, though. More than anyone else she's ever met.

"I've really made a mess of this," Danny finally breathes out. He fixes his eyes on her again. His eyes reflect the lights decorating the hotel's terrace, and if it were any darker, Alicia wouldn't be able to make out his expression. She's never been so grateful for the torches that light up the beach in her life.

But Alicia still doesn't know what to say. The way he's acting doesn't make any sense. She decides to get the words out before the situation gets any further out of hand. "I don't know what you're talking about, Danny." She frees one of her hands from his and drags it through her hair, fixing it where the breeze has gotten to it. "You said that you didn't want to - that you couldn't - and I don't know what's going on with you, but I can't keep doing this."

She hates the way she sounds - caught off guard and completely in over her head, but she doesn't know how to phrase the part that she keeps getting stuck on. He told her that his life is complicated, that he can't do this with her, and that's fine. But she can't keep letting herself get put in this position. Maybe her taste in guys isn't great - since she's been home, both of the guys she's really liked have done nothing but frustrate her - but she deserves better than this.

She's not going to keep letting him do this to her. She needs to get over him. That means she can't be getting caught on the moonlit beach with him when everyone else is inside.

Danny's eyes are locked on hers. There's another pause, and just as she's about to pull her other hand away and get the hell out of there and go hide at the bar until the night is over, Danny blurts out, "I'm falling in love with you."

It's so sudden that the words don't sink in for Alicia. Their meaning seems to be completely beyond her. She cocks her head to the side and blinks at him for a second, unsure that she's heard what she thinks she's heard. There's no way that he just said that. Absolutely not.

If she didn't know that it would actually be impossible, she'd probably say that her brain shuts off for a few seconds. But her ears start to ring, and then her mind blanks, and then it feels like there's nothing underneath her feet.

_No_. He didn't just say that. _Nope_.

The ringing in her ears goes away. The sand isn't solid beneath her bare feet, but it's there again. The void the shock leaves is immediately filled with anger.

_He said his life is complicated. What the hell is he doing? Trying to make it _more _complicated?_

"What - what are you - Danny, you can't just - " Alicia splutters. Her face is scrunched up and red, for sure, in a way that Javi has said makes her look like an unhappy tomato. She can feel the blood rushing to her face. There's no way this is happening to her. Finally, she gets the words she's stumbling over together, and lands on: "You can't just _say_ that to me, Danny."

She squeezes her eyes shut for a second. When she opens them back up, Danny is looking at her with slightly raised eyebrows. Still holding her hand, he reaches for her other one, and links their fingers together. "Then how else would you like me to say it?"

Alicia shakes her head. "Danny, I don't - "

"Tell me what you want from me, Alicia. Tell me how to do this the right way."

And Alicia would love to tell herself that, like so many guys have before, he's screwing with her feelings. That he's being like so many of the other guys that this hasn't worked with. That this is going to fall apart. But the expression on Danny's face is all sincerity, and suddenly, Alicia just knows. He's telling the truth.

"I don't know what I'm doing, Alicia," Danny whispers, then, and he's being so honest and open with her that it nearly knocks her off her feet, "so just tell me how to do this right."

Her first impulse is to melt into him. To leap into his arms. But - "I thought you said your life was complicated."

This time, it's Danny shaking his head. "Yeah. I did say that." He nods. Once. Twice. And then a smile breaks across his face.

That smile, Alicia realizes with a jolt, is not unlike the sun breaking through the clouds. Not that she would ever admit it.

"And my life _is_ complicated." Danny gently squeezes both of her hands. "But I don't care anymore."

Alicia tilts her head to the side. "Are you sure?"

"Sure as I'll ever be."

Then they're leaning towards each other, hands untangling just so that they can wrap their arms around one another. When their lips finally meet, Alicia isn't sure which one of them kissed the other, but she's suddenly too busy to care.

* * *

Danny has to go back inside.

He doesn't want to, obviously, but his break is probably way over at this point, and people will start looking for him if he doesn't get back soon.

"You want to take a walk, once everything's cleaned up?" he asks her as they head towards the terrace. Alicia's already brushing sand off her dress, her shoes, her bare feet. When they stop in front of the stairs, the impulse to reach over and rearrange her curls - which have been blown around by the wind and possibly disheveled by their kiss on the beach - is too much to resist, so Danny reaches over and gingerly combs his fingers through her hair.

Alicia's cheeks tint pink as Danny's fingers go from her hair to her cheek and then to her shoulder. She leans into the touch. "It'll be late by the time that's done, you know." There's a twinkle in her eyes. "Last year, the sun was up by the time we'd put everything back together."

This doesn't change Danny's mind. It probably should, but everything around him - the waves, the hotel, the breeze, the city, how late everyone here will be awake, the entire world itself - is drowned out by the woman that he loves. His hand tingles where he's touching her. "We could do an early breakfast, if you'd be up for it."

She laughs, resting her hands on his shoulders as she steps into her heels again. "Are you sure? We'll be tired by then. It'll be, _literally_, tomorrow morning."

"I'll take that." When her eyebrows go up even further, Danny shakes his head. "I like being with you."

Her face reddens even more. It's like her cheeks are trying to turn the same color as her dress. Danny flashes a smile at her and kisses her forehead. "Would you like to go to breakfast with me, Alicia?"

Alicia tilts her head to the side. Her mouth quirks to the side like she's thinking about it. "Hmm... Maybe." She winks at him. "I'll have to make sure I'm free."

Danny nods. "Of course. I imagine you have a very busy schedule." He pauses here, because they're both giggling. "Do you wanna meet here?"

She leans forward and steals another kiss, and then she's opening the door to the lobby and disappearing into the gala's lights before Danny can even recover from the shock of how bright it is.

"I'll see you in a few hours." Alicia calls over her shoulder. "Save me a dance, Danny."


End file.
